The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Echoes from the Past
by Altie Gates
Summary: A novelization of a roleplay based on Skyward Sword. A story of a brotherly bond that transcends the ages. When life as he knows it changes, Caleb is thrown into a new world of strange creatures, strange places, and the only sense of familiarity he can find is a strange young man who follows him. They both want to save the girl, but what is Dain hiding?


(((All canon characters are the property of Nintendo! Those with different names are the original characters of myself and a friend.)))

A creeping sense of darkness shook his bones to the core, a resounding utterance of evil's coarse rasps echoed as a chilling wind drifted by. A strange land spanned as far as he could see, much further than he could ever recall. It was as vast as the sky itself. The very earth ruptured, tearing itself in two, a sinister aura bellowing from the depths of the chasm. A monstrous figure let loose its waking roar, and darkness abounded, covering all in its wake.  
He was falling- no, perhaps floating, surrounded by darkness now. The terrible beast opened its gaping maw, threatening to swallow him whole. It roared again and again, each resonance of its calls tearing at his heart, making any memory of hope a distant flicker. The beast roared once more, however, its call took on a shrill croak. His brows furrowed, the grating screech stirring him.  
His eyes snapped open, only to see a familiar, broad beak just above his face. The beak parted to utter its shrill call, and let fall a letter. The letter unceremoniously fell to cover his eyes, and the lilac loftwing tugged itself out of his window, letting the cover snap shut in its place. With a groan, Caleb sat up, realizing he had fallen from the bed in his sleep. He rubbed the back of his head, free hand trailing to grasp the delivered package. He opened the envelope and pulled the paper out, unfolding it carefully.

 _I figured you might need a hand waking up today, sleepyhead. Hopefully you're already awake by the time_

 _this letter gets to you, and you remembered you were going to meet me under the Goddess Statue this_

 _morning! See you!  
-Elania_

With a half-smile and a single chuckle, he closed the letter and set it aside, hoisting himself up and stretching. Time to start the day, and push away thoughts of that oddly troublesome dream.  
As he approached the Goddess Statue, the sound of lilting song reached his ears, eliciting a smile from the student. He could see his childhood friend there, strumming a strange stringed instrument as she sang. She'd adorned herself with a stunning silver and violet dress, and her ebony tresses were pulled back partially, the free hair cascading down her back. He would have been satisfied to simply stand there, listening, but the girl turned and noticed him. Her song came to an abrupt halt.  
"Ah! Caleb, how long have you been standing there?" She asked, bringing her hand to her chest to calm herself.  
"You startled me," she added with a pout. Having been discovered, he strode closer to stand before her.  
"My bad. I just got here, didn't mean to scare you." he apologized sheepishly. Elania gave him a teasing flick on the nose.  
"Looks like my letter was a good idea." She remarked, lowering the instrument to her side.  
"Thanks for that, by the way," Caleb mentioned. "I'm actually kind of glad that woke me up." he sighed. "You look lovely." he added, gesturing to the getup.  
"You really think so?" She asked, features lighting up in joy. She gave a twirl to demonstrate the outfit in its entirety.  
"I'm excited for the ceremony. Do you know what this is?" She inquired, holding up the golden instrument. Caleb tilted his head as he leaned closer to get a better look at it, raising a brow.  
"Can't say I do… I mean, I figure it's an instrument of some kind." He stated, pointing out the obvious.  
"It's called a harp!" Elania elaborated, pulling it back to give a strum and a hum. "I get to use it for today." she added, giggling. She could hardly contain her excitement. Caleb smiled warmly. It was relieving to see her in such good spirits, especially when his nerves were strung up as it were.  
"I bet you'll do great, today." He told his companion, stepping back slightly as her bird landed nearby. Elania lowered the harp, frowning. Caleb lofted a brow once more, wondering what had caused the sudden shift. She hardly gave him much time to ponder this as she quipped,  
"I'm not so sure you will."  
Caleb's features dropped into shock upon the beration and bluntness of terms.  
"Wh-! What makes you say that?" he questioned, lip pursed. Elania strode around him to her bird, patting its neck.  
"Well, I haven't really seen you practicing for the race…" she pointed out. Caleb's shoulders hunched in shame. He hadn't really thought he needed to, but he could see where her concern had risen from.  
"It can't be all that bad." he assured her. "I mean, all I have to worry about is Groose and his pals… Even so, I'm sure they won't do anything outside the rules. Not with the professors watching." He added with a glance to the side. He didn't believe a word of what he'd said, but he liked to hope.  
"You know they won't play fair." Elania voiced his own concerns, shaking her head. "Just to be sure, why don't we go out on a little practice run? The race is starting soon. You need to be sure that you'll win!" She suggested, taking hold of his hands and dragging him over to the edge of a diving platform. As he neared the edge, Caleb felt his stomach drop.  
"Wait, wait, hold on, Elania!" He pleaded. "Something's off."  
"Don't try and weasel out of this!" She chastised, bringing him around to the edge and standing behind him.  
"No! Really! Elania, I don't think my bird is-" he was cut off as she playfully gave him a push, sending him careening over the edge. Panic gripped Caleb's body as he thrust his fingers to his lips, whistling for his loftwing. As he'd suspected, no crimson blur swept beneath him, and he continued to plummet. Elania watched for several moments, certain the bird was just a little farther away than usual. But as he neared the surface of the clouds, she realized with dread that she'd been wrong. She dove over the edge, calling her bird. The lilac loftwing dove after her from above, and she grabbed hold of the saddle, continuing the steep dive after her friend.  
"Hold on!" She called, reaching out to him. She caught his arm, pulling him close to the bird and banking upward at the last moment. Caleb just managed to hold onto the saddle as the loftwing strained to pull them both upward, finally reaching the floating isle. The three landed in a flurry of dust and feathers, toppling atop one another.  
"Ugh…" Caleb groaned, shaking his head before sitting up, checking to ensure Elania was alright. She had already picked herself up, and was stroking the wing of the indignantly crooning loftwing.  
"I'm sorry, Caleb." She apologized with a glance over her shoulder. "I shouldn't have played around like that… If your bird isn't here, then I suspect something may have happened. Let me make sure my bird is alright, then I'll try and help you find him, okay?" She offered, hoping to make up for the near-death experience.  
"It's alright." Caleb assured her as he caught his breath, heart still pounding in his chest. "I just hope I can find him before the race starts." he noted worriedly.  
"Don't worry about that. I'll go and tell my dad what's happened." Elania put his worries at ease, or at the very least, the worry of time. Caleb nodded, and set off to track down his feathered friend.

"Hun, can you fetch us some more pumpkins from the field?" Pumm called from behind the counter of the Lumpy Pumpkin, his voluminous moustache covering his mouth in its entirety. The auburn-haired server raised his hand to acknowledge Pumm's order, jogging out through the back door. His brilliant red half-cloak reached just to the waist of his tan breeches, and covering his abdomen was a simple cloth wrapping. His tanned, calloused hands hefted up a few pumpkins, and he managed to kick one or two more atop his current pile. It was a busy day, so far. Seemed a lot of folks were buzzing about the assessment race at the Knight's Academy today. He turned back to the Lumpy Pumpkin, nudging open the door with his boot and shuffling back inside. He dropped the stack of pumpkins in the corner, and strode back over to Pumm.  
"Anything else, for now?" he inquired. For his age, he was quite tall- nearly as tall as Pumm. The restaurant's owner turned back to regard the boy, and grinned, shaking his head.  
"That'll do for now, Dain." he stated gratefully. "Go ahead and kick back for a bit, me 'n Kina have it handled for now, y'hear?" He added, picking up one of the pumpkins and slamming it down on the chopping board.  
"If you're sure." Dain responded, waving slightly as he exited the kitchen, heading up the stairs to look out over the crowd. He'd not been here long, perhaps two years. However, these two years seemed to have dragged on for centuries, to him. He'd been awaiting something with bated breath, and everything in his very being had shifted somehow, today. He'd heard enough from the patrons of the Lumpy Pumpkin- He'd heard tell of the special ceremony to be performed today, by the daughter of the Headmaster of the Knight's Academy. All things considered, he couldn't help but wonder if this was it. If perhaps, on a whim, the Goddess herself deemed fit to spring her plan upon him today. If it was… He had to be ready at a moment's notice.  
"Best keep my eye on the horizon…" He muttered to himself, heading back down the stairs. He did mean this quite literally, as he headed outside once more, taking up a seat at the edge of the isle. A few people had the same idea, but perhaps for different reasons. A small crowd had gathered at the edge, watching the skies in anticipation. They were likely here to observe today's race.  
"This is strange, they should have started by now, right?" A young man nudged his friend, pointing out to the sky.  
"I thought so… Maybe they're delaying it a little. I'm sure it'll happen soon." His friend assured him. Dain frowned, narrowing his eyes to the horizon. Every year, or at least, from what he'd heard and seen, the Knight Academy's race started at the same time. Why was this year different? He couldn't help but ponder…

[[[[This isn't the end of the chapter just yet! I'm just quite impatient to get this rolling. I'll be adding to this chapter in installments, and eventually, just doing a chapter at a time.]]]]


End file.
